Army veteran Ed Cutler's patriotism shines in his eyes as he scouts dumps and roadside trash heaps for castaway park benches.

His patriotism works through his hands as he carefully replaces rotted planks, welds broken metal handrails and legs and sands and paints each one, turning dilapidated junk into a garden respite. And patriotism swells his heart, when, after he painstakingly finishes the benches in his Windsor garage workshop, he presents them as gifts to wounded veterans.

Cutler feels it every day, but he doesn't want to talk about it. He said the publicity should not be about him.

"Maybe it's to make up for the bad things I've done," Cutler chuckled. "I think it is just to do something for the men and women [who] are heroes. To show them someone cares."

The father of a son and five daughters (one retired from the Air Force), Cutler, who will turn 75 on Friday, said he was "lucky" when he served in the Army from 1958 to 1962.

"It was a quiet time," he said, explaining his years as a truck mechanic in Germany and France. Later, he worked at Pratt & Whitney and eventually retired from Supervalu Inc. A self-taught carpenter, Cutler said he liked to dabble, building an impressive addition to the home he shares with wife, Joyce; a gazebo for the backyard; and other interior and exterior carpentry projects.

Patrick Raycraft, The Hartford Courant

Ed Cutler, 75, refurbishes donated benches in his Windsor garage and in turn gives them to wounded veterans. Cutler would now like to give a few benches to wounded female veterans.

Ed Cutler, 75, refurbishes donated benches in his Windsor garage and in turn gives them to wounded veterans. Cutler would now like to give a few benches to wounded female veterans. (Patrick Raycraft, The Hartford Courant)

It was two years ago that Cutler began his bench restoration mission, after reading a newspaper article about Marine Corps veteran Greg Caron, who lost both legs below the knee and suffered a severely damaged right arm while on patrol near a Taliban compound in Afghanistan in September 2011.

"I just thought, 'What a guy,' " Cutler said, adding that he attended a rally for Caron, who was also a friend of his granddaughter's family. Caron was being presented a home through the Building Homes for Heroes project when Cutler got an idea.

"I thought, I bet he would like a bench in that backyard," Cutler said. And so the mission began.

Patrick Raycraft, praycraft@courant.com

Ed Cutler, 75, refurbishes donated benches in his Windsor garage and gives them to wounded veterans.

Cutler is a master when it comes transforming trash into treasures, repurposing what he can from each broken bench and buying what he needs to make each a worthy work of garden art.

"I go down to the landfill and find benches, sometimes by the side of the road," he explained. A quick tour of his organized workshop reveals routers, a table saw, sanders and welding equipment, as well as mismatched pieces of cast iron bench railings and legs, and wooden planks waiting to be cut into bench slats.

"Sometimes if I see someone has a rundown bench in their yard, I'll knock at the door and explain what I do and ask if they will donate it to me," Cutler said. "I've picked up a few that way."

Mostly men, veterans of Iraq and Afghanistan, have received Cutler's benches. But he has also given them to wounded police officers, a Gold Star mother, two veterans organizations, a few children facing medical crises, and people whose "heroic" stories caught his eye as he perused local newspapers.

"I wish there were more like him," said Ed Sabotka, senior vice commander of the American Legion Post in Windsor Locks where Cutler is a member. "He has an incredible sense of patriotism and I know the people who have received them, appreciate them."

They do.

"I was so surprised at his kindness," said Barry Albert, a Windsor Locks resident and Army veteran who lost his leg in Iraq. "No one does that kind of thing anymore. That bench is special and is on our deck every summer."

Cutler minimizes his efforts.

"I know it's not much but I like to think that maybe it brings a smile to someone's face," he said. "You know, maybe they are having a bad day and they are sitting on their front porch and feeling low and some old fool like me pulls up and gives them a bench. I like to think it makes a difference."

Cutler is the midst of his own dilemma this Memorial Day weekend.

"I have these two beautiful benches but they are kind of feminine," he explained, showing off one that features delicate butterflies and dragonflies, and another with blush colored peonies and ivy green vines carved into the metal railings and backrest.

"I've reached out to the Department of Veterans' Affairs and a couple of other veterans organizations hoping they might know of some female veterans who could use them," Cutler said. "But I haven't been able to find anyone yet, so if someone out there knows of a female veteran who was injured and could use a bench, call me."

Cutler said he is concerned that Americans don't cherish their country and that patriotism is waning.

"It makes me so angry when I see people burning flags or complaining how bad this country is," Cutler said. "You can argue all you want, but it is still the best country in the world."

"I was born in the best time, in the best country in the world. I had wonderful parents, the best wife, children and pets ever," he said softly as he ends the conversation and gets back to his projects. "If I can do something for someone, well, let's put it this way, it just feels better to do something good for someone instead of doing something bad."